Budgetary paralysis | The dead end between Republicans and Democrats

(Washington) Republican and democratic legislators have given few signs of constructive negotiations aimed at reopening the federal government, while paralysis entered its sixth day on Monday.

Questioned Sunday evening about the date on which federal officials would be dismissed, as he threatened, President Donald Trump told journalists: “This happens at the moment, and it is entirely because of the Democrats. »»

He refused to specify which agencies would be affected by the budget cuts.

The possibility of layoffs aggravates an already tense situation, in which Washington legislators struggle to find common ground and establish mutual trust. The leaders of the two parties bet on a reversal of the situation that would push the other camp to give in.

The president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, is expected to hold a press conference on Monday morning at the Capitol, and others could do the same.

The House of Representatives should not sit this week. The spotlights are therefore on the Senate, which must take the initiative of a possible agreement in the Congress, dominated by the Republicans. Despite the absence of elected officials, republican leaders and democrats hold almost daily information meetings to formulate their arguments and seek to make the blame to the other party.

Democrats insist on the renewal of subsidies to cover the costs of health insurance for millions of households. For his part, Mr. Trump wishes to preserve the current expenses of spending and focus on that Democrats will have to give in to the threatened federal infrastructure and energy and energy projects.

This impasse occurs in a context of worrying economic uncertainty. If the US economy continued to grow this year, hiring has slowed down and inflation remains high, import taxes imposed by the republican president having created a series of disturbances for businesses and undermined confidence in his leadership. At the same time, it is recognized that the annual budget deficit of nearly 2000 billion US dollars is financially unbearable.

Democrats’ leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, New York, said on Sunday that there had been no discussion with Republican leaders from their meeting at the White House on September 29. He added that since then, the Republicans, including Mr. Trump, “have remained silent.”

The Trump administration sees in government paralysis an opportunity to exercise greater power over the budget. Several officials say they will save money during partial unemployment by imposing permanent job cuts on thousands of officials, an unprecedented tactic.

Even if M, Trump chose to suppress jobs, he believes he could impute responsibility for paralysis of the Democrats.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff defended his party’s position on paralysis, saying that the possible increase in health care costs for millions of Americans would make insurance unaffordable in what he called “crisis”.